I am so glad that you all still follow me and have been so loyal. The last few months have been a difficult adjustment for me. I went form being able to blog every day, because I was a stay at home mom and then COVID hit, but now that I’m working again I’ve had a really hard time adjusting to doing both. It’s a struggle to find time to read anymore, thus I can’t pump out the same fun content that I used to. My work/life balance is out of whack. But, I don’t want you guys to worry. I also have good news! I have been sending out manuscripts for a short story that I wrote, fingers crossed that someone will pick it up. On top of that, I came up with an idea for a YA Fantasy book. So I am still writing, just not on the blogging platform currently.
I’m not going to lie to you all. I am not sure when exactly I’ll jump back into my blogging, but I’m going to take a hiatus and post here when I have something to review or discuss. So no definite posting schedule at this time.
I’ll be back for you guys as soon as I have something interesting to discuss.
Every reader has those books that will stick with them for their entire life. I have a few, and I mostly consider them the books that grew up with me. They marked some kind of reading milestone and had a deep impact on who I am. Here is my list of books that shaped me.
The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
The Foot Book was the first book that I ever read on my own. I remember that I read it to my grandma at her house when I was really young. I wasn’t a strong reader as a kid and I had to go to extra reading classes to catch up to the other kids. But, when I read this book on my own for the first time, I knew that I was going to be a reader.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Those of you who have been around for a while have probably heard me talk about this book before. This was the first chapter book that I ever read. I found a copy of it at the river where I was camping and I was afraid to take it. So everyday that we camped I walked down to the river and read a little bit. On the last day of our trip I decided that the book was abandoned and I took it home. Yep, I’m a book thief.
Anyway. This story about a young girl and her dog remains a favorite.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Just like the last entry, if you’ve been around a while you’ve heard me sing the praises for this book. I love Tolkien, he’s my favorite author. The reason this particular book is special though is because my dad would read this to me around Christmas time and it really opened my eyes to fantasy.
The Hobbit will forever be the bridge that I crossed to reach my deep love for fantasy.
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
I LOVE HARRY POTTER! Yes, you all know this. I’m not going to say a whole lot, just that these books were a godsend when I was pre-teen/teen.
No I do not condone JKR’s actions, but I’m trying to love this series still and not promote Rowling. It’s hard when something you love so much comes under fire, but I’m trying not to line her pockets anymore than they already are.
The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Yes, yes, I know. Tolkien twice?! Seriously though, Tolkien is my fave and these books were such a great outlet while I was in college. They really helped me alleviate my stress and offered a beautiful escape.
If I could go back in time and meet one dead author it would be Tolkien.
So these are the books that shaped who I am. They’ve been helpful for me overcoming things like being an outcast or learning to read. My life would be very different if any of these were never written.
What books helped shape you? Let me know in the comments ❤️
My little Harry Potter loving heart about exploded out of my chest when I saw the trailer for the new open world Harry Potter RPG. It’s coming to next-gen consoles in 2021! You can customize your own witch or wizard, and supposedly even decide if you’re pure blood, half blood, or muggle born. You can explore the Hogwarts castle, but you’re not limited to just Hogwarts, there are other locations to adventure too.
There has been a lot of speculation about a Harry Potter game the last couple years, and now that it has been announced I’m so excited. I felt all of the emotions watching the game trailer. I just hope it lives up to expectations!
Here is the trailer for those of you who have yet to see it!
So today is going to be kind of a weird post. I recently started reading I Am Legend and watched a couple “zombie” movies that had me questioning the way we view these monsters. What makes them different? Are they similar in a lot of ways? How come some people use them almost interchangeably?
Let’s start with I Am Legend. You’ve probably seen the movie if you haven’t read the book. Here’s a description of the book,
Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone.
An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him.
By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn….
Description from Amazon
And here is a description of the movie,
Will Smith stars in a sci-fi thriller from the director of Constantine – I Am Legend. After a biological war, Robert Neville is the last healthy human living on Earth, but he is not alone. The other humans have become vampire-like mutants, and all are hungry for Neville’s blood. By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn…
Description from Amazon
So first of all, when the IAm Legend movie came out, just about everyone thought the monsters were zombies. I haven’t seen the movie in years because it makes me cry, but I distinctly remember thinking they were super strong zombies as well.
They aren’t.
And I find it hilarious that the Amazon description specifically mentions vampires, because it was not advertised like that, and has become kind of a topic of debate.
But, if you read the book there is no questioning it. The monsters are 100% vampires. I guess I bring this whole topic up because it would’ve been so simple to make the distinction in the movie. Give Neville a garlic greenhouse like the book, or put a mirror on the front door like the book. I don’t know why they went for a subtle route in the movie, but here’s my theory.
At this point in history and the past 10-15 years we have been arguably more interested in zombies than vampires. Why? I don’t know, maybe it’s the primal nature of the monsters, or maybe it’s because they’re so much like us. Regardless, I think they left it relatively vague on purpose. Zombies pull in a crowd, and typically vampires do not.
This leads me into my next question, how interchangeable are they? This is when I bring in the two movies. Patient Zero staring Matt Smith, Natalie Dormer, and Stanley Tucci.
A supervirus has turned humankind into highly intelligent, streamlined killers, and an asymptomatic victim (Matt Smith) who can communicate with the infected must lead the last survivors on a hunt for Patient Zero and a cure.
Description from Wikipedia
The cast is why I watched it, it looked terrible 😂. The second movie is called Feral.
A wild animal attacks six grad students on a weekend hike in the woods. One by one, they become infected with an unknown virus that turns them into bloodthirsty creatures.
Description from Wikipedia
First off, both movies are awful, but they made me ask questions. In Patient Zero Matt Smith can communicate with the zombies, much like Neville can in I Am Legend (Book), and they show varied levels of intelligence. Some of them riding the edge of genius level zombies. This is fundamentally not what a zombie is portrayed as, but definitely fits into the vampire description. Even the way these zombies moved reminded me of vampires. This movie rode the line of zombie vs vampires hard, and while they consider them zombies, I’d beg to differ.
The movie Feral was a bit different. The zombies only reanimated during the night time, which can be considered an older zombie trope, but is more in line with vampires. The one thing that really bothered me though was the appearance shift from human to “zombie” in this movie. Because over night their appearance would change. The skin would grey, the hair would fall out, they’d have new teeth, and they’d have different eyes. They honestly looked like a nastier version of the zombies in the I Am Legend movie. It didn’t feel like a zombie transformations, but a vampiric one. On top of that they moved more vampire-like than zombie-like. No shambling, or moaning, or brain eating. They just gave me vampire vibes.
So do we consider these to still be zombies? Even though they don’t look like or behave like zombies? Can you vary that far from the source material and still be shrouded in the zombie genre? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Midnight Sun has been out for a while now and I have questions for those of you who have read it. As someone who read the Twilight series during the hype, and didn’t completely hate it, I’m curious as to whether it is worth the read or not? Does Edward’s version expand on the events that take place? Or is this just another cash grab?
While I don’t entirely hate the Twilight saga, I don’t think it was at all deserving of the ridiculous hype it received. I had a friend who was completely obsessed with this series, shoot I even had a Taylor Lautner poster in my room (only because it was free). But, this was a story that is low on my list of books that I enjoyed, and it definitely doesn’t have the re-readability factor, at least for me. But, if I were to read it, would it be a worthy read?
I usually do a monthly book haul and this month I was thinking it would be extra cool if I did my book haul based solely on recommendations from my followers. So drop the best book that you’ve ever read in my comments and I’ll add it to my TBR and book haul list.
Thank you for your participation and also for following me on my blogging journey.
I have a couple bloggers who interact with me fairly regularly and have awesome blogs themselves. I think that if you enjoy my blog then you will definitely enjoy theirs. Here is my list, check them out!
I’m All Booked Up
I’m All Booked Up is ran by Christy and Claire. They are obsessed with YA, and you are sure to find a good review or recommendation on their page. I’ve found myself excited for a book to find out that they are too, it’s cool to have bloggers to relate to in the YA world. Not to mention they are wonderfully nice in every interaction I have with them. They run a virtual book club from their blog, and I just so happen to have the August book, A Song Below Water. I highly recommend them because they are engaging and post regularly.
I love Twirling Book Princess because they really let their personality shine through. They blog daily and always have something unique to feature. You can expect to see children’s books, YA, manga, and pretty much whatever they feel like reviewing and discussing. I get a lot of awesome feedback from Twirling Book Princess and one particular post they do that I enjoy is their Teaser Tuesday They do this thing where they have Random.org pick a random percentage and then they pull a quote from that percent in the book. I just thought that was an awesome idea. Here’s a link to their latest Teaser Tuesday.
I’d say that A Rambling Reviewer is more of a traditional reviewer than the last two bloggers we’ve discussed, and I mean that in a good way. Like many of us book reviewers, Lindsey (blog owner) didn’t intend on running a review blog, she just kind of did. I like how relatable Lindsey is and also how thorough her reviews are. Lindsey enjoys many genres of books, a few examples are Fantasy, Historical, and Young Adult, but there are more than just that. Lindsey also does TV/Film recommendations like I do! I love that. I think that of all the blogs I’ve posted today A Rambling Reviewer is the most similar to what I do in terms of content. So if you like my blog, I think you will like this one even more!
We all have tropes that we hate, here are my top three.
3. The Exposition Character
The Exposition Character, if you don’t already know, is a character that is seemingly clueless so that the narrator can give background information. This kind of character is the one who asks what’s that? when a siren goes off or doesn’t understand very basic rules. I hate this because often times it feels like the author doesn’t trust the reader to understand very basic plot points. I feel like just giving a quick internal explanation versus making an idiotic character is better.
2. Love Triangles
How often do love triangles actually happen? How come it seems like every other YA novel features a love triangle? It’s just unrealistic and to me, it feels like artificial tension in a story. I’d much rather spend the time wasted on the triangle to deepen the romantic aspect of the couple that ends up together. I know this opinion is pretty controversial, but it’s just not for me. Total respect towards those who do enjoy it though.
1. A Charater Being ”Quirky” Because of Their Mental Health Problems
Look I struggle pretty intensely with my mental health, and I have family members with severe depression. It’s not something that makes me or them quirky, it makes us unstable and at a disadvantage. My anxiety makes it hard for me to get out of bed in the morning, and not once have I been told, you’re so quirky when I was having an anxiety attack or a paranoid meltdown. It’s not quirky, it’s not cool, it’s hard. Stop using it to make cutesy characters, because it’s not cute.
What tropes do you hate? Let me know in the comments!
I’m going camping today and I won’t have service, so I’ll be off the grid once I get off work. I’ll be getting some reading done, camping is one of the best times to read.
Have a good weekend everyone, I’ll be back Monday.
I almost forgot to do my July goals! Also I’m excited to say that I’ve been hired to be the receptionist at an addiction counseling clinic. Due to this awesome life development I’m going to take it easy on my goals so that I’m not overwhelming myself. Here are my goals:
Post 6 days a week still, but not to feel disappointed if I miss a day here and there because of my new job.
Get to 4,000 followers. I’m at about 3,500 right now so I’m not too far off!
Read at least a book a week, but shoot for two, while keeping in mind my first goal.
So there we have it! My goals for July. What are your goals this month? Let me know in the comments.
If right now I had to make the decision to read books from one author for the rest of my life, I’d pick J.R.R. Tolkien.
Why him and not J.K. Rowling, since I love Harry Potter so much? Because he has a ton of books under his belt and he’s built an entire universe based around Middle Earth. He has languages, religions, and histories. I could get lost in his world for the rest of my life and still not know all the mysteries.
The Lord Of The Rings is one of my favorite series, right behind Harry Potter, and the story give me everything. It’s beautiful, it’s sad, and it’s terrifying. The characters are amazing and so lovable, and lets not forget that in a time of men being the heroes, Tolkien had Éowyn slay the Witch King. I adore the lives he’s created in his work, they inspire me.
A lot of people don’t realize how deep the roots for The Lord Of The Rings are. There’s The Silmarillion, the histories, The Hobbit, and many other wonderful works. Tolkien wrote poetry and children’s books. He was an extraordinarily talented and versatile writer, I would not be lacking in reading material.
Tolkien also wrote a version of Beowulf that I’ve been trying to get my hands on for a few years. I could get it online but I’d like to get it second hand to support local businesses. I had a coworker tell me how awesome it was and I’ve been dying to get my hands on it ever since.
If you had to pick one author to read for the rest of your life who would it be? Let me know in the comments.
Percy is the most relatable character that I think Riordan has written. He’s successful due to dumb luck a lot, he’s constantly confused, and he really didn’t ask for the challenges he’s been given. I find myself being able to put myself in his shoes a lot.
I took one of those quizzes, like the Buzzfeed quizzes, and as it turns out I would be a child of Poseidon. That’s why I think I can relate to Percy so much, he’d be my half brother in that universe. I see a lot of myself in Percy, and growing up it was great to have a character that felt like me. I read these in middle school or early high school, I can’t exactly remember, and Percy was always my favorite.
I find solace next to the ocean, I grew up about 15 minutes away from the Pacific, and it’s always been a big part of my life. I learned how to swim when I was about three, and I’ve loved water ever since. There’s something about it that’s freeing. Granted, I do most of my swimming in the river or lake and not the ocean, because the ocean is dangerous around here, but I love water nonetheless.
If I could have Percy’s powers I’d take them in a heartbeat, his are coolest in my opinion. He can heal in the water, breathe underwater, and communicate with sea creatures. Percy is like a cool Aquaman. I’d totally be happy to be the daughter of Poseidon and wield the powers of the ocean.
Have you read Percy Jackson? Who do you think would be your Greek god/goddess parent? Let me know in the comments!
I hope everyone has had a good weekend, and enjoyed Independence Day if they chose to celebrate. Today is my grandma’s birthday, I believe she is 68 today. I’m bad at remembering ages, I forgot how old I was the other day 🤦🏼♀️ Anyway, I was just popping by to say a brief hello and wish you all a Happy Sunday!
As today is a holiday I won’t be doing my normal post, but I’d like to wish all of followers who celebrate Independence Day, a happy 4th! Thank you for being such an engaging and wonderful group of people. Eat some good food, light a few fireworks, and have a great day!
One of my favorite character in the Harry Potter series is Sirius Black, and fortunately he has many awesome quotes throughout the movies and books. Here are 3 of my favorites.
“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”
— Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
This quote is definitely high on my list. It is so true, we’re all capable of good and evil but we must act on what’s right. It’s a reminder that even when I’m feeling down, it’s my choices that define me, and I’d say I try to make the good choice most of the time.
“The ones who love us never really leave us, you can always find them in here.”
— Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I love this one because it gives me hope. I don’t know what happens after this, but it’s comforting to know that our loved ones are always with us. Whether it’s in spirit or in memory. It makes loss feel a lot less scary.
“If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
— Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
This is such a good piece of advice, and it’s true. If you want to know the true nature of a person observe how they treat those who could be considered inferior. That is the fastest way to reveal whether a person is kind or cruel. I follow this advice all the time, and it’s never steered me wrong.
What are some of your favorite quotes? Let me know in the comments.
Sav’s Review 